Mountain View PD Seeks Thief in Smash-and-Grab Robbery

Mountain View police are seeking a suspect in a smash-and-grab burglary in a Starbucks coffee shop parking lot on Monday.

Police on Wednesday released video of the burglary, which occurred around 9:55 a.m. Monday in a Starbucks parking lot on Pear Avenue off of North Shoreline Boulevard, just down the road from the headquarters of Google and LinkedIn.

"This was obviously a crime of opportunity," said Katie Nelson, spokeswoman for the Mountain View Police Department. "We're not sure if they were following (the victim) or if they had been casing the parking lot already."

Police said the victim had stopped for coffee and was gone for just a few minutes. His laptop computer was inside the stolen backpack.